Soudal-QuickStep are long used to being the dominant force during the spring Classics, but three races in, the Belgian squad have endured a torrid start to their 2023 cobbled campaign.
After an Opening Weekend which saw illness and crashes take their toll as rivals Jumbo-Visma dominated, Soudal-QuickStep were again hit by crashes in Tuesday's trip to Wallonia for Le Samyn, with Stan Van Tricht their best finishers in 51st.
With European champion Fabio Jakobsen and former Tour of Flanders winner Kasper Asgreen on the seven-man team for the 209km cobbled race, Soudal-QuickStep looked to have the strongest squad on the start line.
However, things went awry for both men during the race from Quaregnon to Dour, with Jakobsen caught in an early crash and then again at 50km to go along with teammate Martin Svrcek.
Asgreen, meanwhile, hit the ground hard inside the final kilometre following a touch of wheels in the lead group.
Milan Menten, a new signing for QuickStep's age-old Belgian rivals Lotto-Dstny, took the win at Le Samyn, sprinting to glory from a group of 20. Meanwhile, Soudal-QuickStep were left to lick their wounds, with Asgreen and Jakobsen among four DNFs for the squad.
Both men escaped without fractures and will instead be in for several days of discomfort with their wounds and abrasions bandaged up.
"Following this incident, [Asgreen] was left with a lot of skin abrasions, but nothing that will have a big impact on the coming weeks," Soudal-QuickStep announced following the race.
"[Jakobsen] has a contusion of his scapula and ligaments in his shoulder, as well as multiple wounds over his body that required patching up and will need a few days to recover."
The team had seen Asgreen miss Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne with an illness suffered last week, while Tim Declercq, Florian Sénéchal, and Yves Lampaert were all caught in crashes at the weekend.
Team boss Patrick Lefevere had flown back from the Tour du Rwanda to watch his charges take on Opening Weekend, and, after seeing Jumbo-Visma win both races, said, "In the end, we have to conclude that Jumbo-Visma are now the team we were a few years ago. They dominate and we have been found out.
"We shouldn't panic now, though. The season has only just started and with Remco's overall victory at the UAE Tour we have already won our 12th race. I don't feel angry – we have to go through this. The season is still long."
Soudal-QuickStep's next one-day races will come at the weekend, with Strade Bianche on Saturday seeing Julian Alaphilippe and Mauri Vansevenant head up their squad.
On the same day, Ethan Vernon and Josef Cerny are among the team taking on the GP Criquielion in Wallonia. The team will divide between Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico but Remco Evenepoel will take a break after his UAE Tour victory and return to racing at the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya which starts on March 20.
